U.S. patent number 10,547,966 [Application Number 15/741,421] was granted by the patent office on 2020-01-28 for methods and apparatuses for communication between electronic vehicle supply equipment and wireless device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Zaptec AS. The grantee listed for this patent is ZAPTEC AS. Invention is credited to Brage W. Johansen, Kjetil N.ae butted.sje, Vegard Valebjorg.
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United States Patent |
10,547,966 |
N.ae butted.sje , et
al. |
January 28, 2020 |
Methods and apparatuses for communication between electronic
vehicle supply equipment and wireless device
Abstract
Location based services to users of electric vehicles (114) are
facilitated. Users that are in possession of a wireless
communication device (116) may receive RF signals in the form of
beacons (109) transmitted by an EVSE (102). The information
contained in the signals may be used to facilitate for the user
when the user wishes to take advantage of different services
(132,134,136), nearby the EVSE (102) as well as further away from
the EVSE (102).
Inventors: |
N.ae butted.sje; Kjetil
(Sandnes, NO), Johansen; Brage W. (Royneberg,
NO), Valebjorg; Vegard (Klepp Stasjon,
NO) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ZAPTEC AS |
Stavanger |
N/A |
NO |
|
|
Assignee: |
Zaptec AS (Stavanger,
NO)
|
Family
ID: |
54261054 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/741,421 |
Filed: |
July 4, 2016 |
PCT
Filed: |
July 04, 2016 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/EP2016/065669 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
January 02, 2018 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2017/005678 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
January 12, 2017 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20180376280 A1 |
Dec 27, 2018 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 3, 2015 [NO] |
|
|
20150863 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
4/40 (20180201); H04L 67/12 (20130101); H04W
4/023 (20130101); H04W 4/021 (20130101); H04W
4/029 (20180201); H04L 67/18 (20130101); H04W
4/80 (20180201) |
Current International
Class: |
H04W
24/00 (20090101); H04W 4/80 (20180101); H04W
4/40 (20180101); H04W 4/029 (20180101); H04W
4/021 (20180101) |
Field of
Search: |
;455/456.1-456.3
;370/338 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Sep. 5, 2016,
for corresponding International Application No. PCT/EP2016/065669;
International Filing Date: Jul. 4, 2016 consisting of 13-pages.
cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Batista; Marcos
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Christopher & Weisberg,
P.A.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A method performed by an electric vehicle supply equipment,
EVSE, comprising: transmitting a radio frequency, RF, signal having
information for use by a wireless communication device when
accessing at least one service that is associated with at least one
geographic zone of the EVSE, the at least one service being at
least one of the group consisting of: a payment service; a local
information service; and a geographical tracking or routing service
the information including the geographic zone of the EVSE in
relation to the wireless communication device and the geographic
location zone determining which at least one service to access, the
plurality of geographic zones including: a first geographic zone; a
second geographic zone; and a third geographic zone, when the
wireless communication device is located in the first geographic
zone the payment service is accessible, when the wireless
communication device is located in the second geographic zone the
local information service is accessible, and when the wireless
communication device is in the third geographic zone the
geographical tracking or routing service is accessible.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication with the
wireless communication device further comprises communication
directly with the wireless communication device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication with the
wireless communication device further comprises communication via
an internet communication path.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the RF signal
comprises transmission of at least one of the group consisting of:
a Bluetooth signal; and a near field communication, NFC,
signal.
5. The electric vehicle supply equipment, EVSE, further comprising
radio frequency control circuitry, a processor, and a memory, the
memory containing instructions executable by the processor where
the EVSE is operative to perform the method according to claim
1.
6. A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising
instructions which, when executed on at least one processor in the
electric vehicle supply equipment, EVSE, cause the EVSE to carry
out the method according to claim 1.
7. A method performed by a wireless communication device
comprising: receiving, from an electric vehicle supply equipment,
EVSE, a radio frequency, RF, signal comprising information for use
by the wireless communication device when accessing at least one
service that is associated with the geographic location of the EVSE
in relation to the wireless communication device, the geographic
location associated with the EVSE being obtained from the received
information and the geographic location being a specific geographic
zone, among a plurality of geographic zones where the wireless
communication device is located, the plurality of geographic zones
including; a first geographic zone; a second geographic zone; and a
third geographic zone, when the wireless communication device is
located in the first geographic zone a payment service is
accessible, when the wireless communication device is located in
the second geographic zone a local information service is
accessible, and when the wireless communication device is in the
third geographic zone a geographical tracking or routing service is
accessible; analyzing the information received from the EVSE, where
at least an identity of the EVSE is obtained; obtaining a
geographic location associated with the EVSE in relation to the
wireless communication device; and accessing the at least one
service that is associated with the geographic location associated
with the EVSE in relation to the wireless communication device.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: analyzing signal
strength of the received RF signal, and where the geographic
location associated with the EVSE is obtained from the analysis of
the signal strength.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first, second, and third
geographical zones are associated with a respective first, second,
and third spatial distance from the EVSE, where the first distance
is smaller than the second distance and the second distance is
smaller than the third distance.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the accessing of the at least
one service further comprises communicating with the EVSE.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the reception of the RF signal
further comprises reception of at least one of the group consisting
of: a Bluetooth signal; and a near field communication, NFC,
signal.
12. The wireless communication device further comprising radio
frequency control circuitry, a processor, and a memory, the memory
containing instructions executable by the processor where the
wireless communication device is operative to perform the method
according to claim 7.
13. A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising
instructions which, when executed on at least one processor in a
wireless communication device, cause the wireless communication
device to carry out the method according to claim 7.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Submission under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 371 for
U.S. National Stage Patent Application of, and claims priority to,
International Application Number PCT/EP2016/065669 entitled METHODS
AND APPARATUSES FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ELECTRONIC VEHICLE SUPPLY
EQUIPMENT AND WIRELESS DEVICE, filed Jul. 4, 2016, which is related
to and claims priority to Norwegian Patent Number 20150863, filed
Jul. 3, 2015, the entirety of all of which are incorporated herein
by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
Embodiments herein relate to methods and arrangements that
facilitate access of at least one service that is associated with
the geographic location of an Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment,
EVSE, by the use of radio frequency, RF, transmissions.
BACKGROUND
The owners of plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles
typically have a dedicated charging station at home or other
location where the vehicle is normally garaged. Infrastructure for
public charging stations is getting more and more common, wherein
charging stations are accessible and usable by a plurality of
drivers of vehicles, for example at commercial buildings, shopping
malls, multi-unit dwellings, governmental facilities and other
locations. In some implementations EVSEs are equipped with digital
processing capabilities and communication arrangements, wireless
and/or wired, whereby the EVSE is connected to the internet and
provided with internet protocol, IP, addresses. By this, the EVSEs
make up local grids of Internet access points. However, these
internet connected EVSEs have limited capabilities. For example,
they are typically able only to perform simple functions related to
charging the users for the electric energy obtained from public
EVSEs.
The prior art includes a system for parking spot coordination as
described in the international patent application publication WO
2014/072909 and systems for setting zone-dependent operational
parameters of a mobile terminal as described in the international
patent application publication WO 2002/013557.
SUMMARY
In view of the above, an object of the present disclosure is to
overcome or at least mitigate at least some of the drawbacks
related to prior art EVSE.
This is achieved in one aspect by a method performed by an electric
vehicle supply equipment, EVSE. The method comprises transmitting a
radio frequency, RF, signal. The RF signal comprises information
for use by a wireless communication device when accessing at least
one service that is associated with the geographic location of the
EVSE. The EVSE communicates with the wireless communication device
whereby the accessing of the at least one service by the wireless
communication device is facilitated.
In a second aspect there is provided a method performed by a
wireless communication device. The method performed by the wireless
communication device comprises receiving an RF signal from an EVSE.
The signal comprises information for use by the wireless
communication device when accessing at least one service that is
associated with the geographic location of the EVSE. The
information received from the EVSE is analyzed, whereby at least an
identity of the EVSE is obtained. A geographic location is obtained
that is associated with the EVSE. The at least one service that is
associated with the geographic location associated with the EVSE is
then accessed.
In other words, location based services to users of electric
vehicles are facilitated. Such users that are in possession of a
wireless communication device may receive RF signals in the form
of, e.g., "beacons" transmitted by an EVSE. The information
contained in the signals may be used to facilitate for the user
when the user wishes to take advantage of different services,
nearby the EVSE as well as further away from the EVSE.
In another aspect there is provided an EVSE comprising radio
frequency control circuitry, a processor and a memory. The memory
contains instructions executable by the processor whereby the EVSE
is operative to perform the method as summarized above.
In another aspect there is provided a wireless communication device
comprising radio frequency control circuitry, a processor and a
memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the
processor whereby the wireless communication device is operative to
perform a method as summarized above.
In further aspects there are provided computer programs and
carriers that correspond to the methods summarized above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an EVSE environment,
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method performed by an EVSE,
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method performed by a wireless
communication device,
FIG. 4 is a schematically illustrated block diagram of an EVSE,
and
FIG. 5 is a schematically illustrated block diagram of a wireless
communication device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference to FIG. 1, the present disclosure relates to an
Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, EVSE, 102 that is configured to
provide services to a user of a wireless communication device 116
such as a smartphone, tablet and other similar communication
devices capable of communicating via a wireless interface 118 with
the Internet 110. Needless to say, details regarding how such a
wireless communication device 116 may communicate with the Internet
110 is outside the scope of the present disclosure and the skilled
person will realize that such communication may be realized via
appropriate wireless standards such as any third generation
partnership project, 3GPP, standard or similar long range or
shorter range radio communication standards.
Typically, such a user having control of the wireless communication
device 116 will be a driver of a vehicle 114 that is powered by an
electric motor and which vehicle will need electric power charging
at regular intervals at the EVSE 102 or at some other EVSE as
illustrated by EVSE 152 in FIG. 1. As will be exemplified below,
the type and content of these services may be dependent on a
geographical relation between the EVSE 102 and the wireless
communication device 116, for example a spatial distance, by
emitting RF signals. This enables the wireless communication
devices to perform actions when in close proximity or further away
from the EVSE, such as accessing different types of services. The
EVSE may broadcast a unique identifier which can be received by the
wireless communication device 116 and such an identifier may
trigger a location-based action on the wireless communication
device such as a push notification. It is to be noted that the
vehicle 114 may also be equipped with a, more or less built-in,
wireless communication device 115 that is similar to the wireless
communication device 116.
The EVSE 102 comprises a power supply system 106 for providing
electric power when charging an electric vehicle such as vehicle
114. Details regarding the power supply system 106 is outside the
scope of the present disclosure The EVSE 102 further comprises
control and communication circuitry 104, typically including a
processor and memory as will be exemplified below. The control and
communication circuitry 104 operates by way of software to control
radio emission via an antenna 108. The radio emission from the
antenna 108 may follow a radio communication standard such as
Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-wave or similar
standards. In the following, RF signal transmission by the EVSE 102
will be referred to as a beacon 109 emitted via the antenna 108.
The EVSE 102 is connected to the internet 110 via a fixed
connection or a wireless connection. Although FIG. 1 exemplifies
the internet connection as a direct connection, an alternative way
of connecting the EVSE 102 to the internet 110 is via an internet
connection provided (e.g. temporarily) by the wireless
communication device 116, using a suitable radio communication
standard connection via the control and communication circuitry 104
and the antenna 108.
Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, methods performed by the EVSE 102 and
the wireless communication device 116 will be described. First, in
FIG. 2, a method performed by the EVSE 102 will be described in
some exemplifying details. The method comprises a number of
actions, as the boxes in the flowchart in FIG. 2 illustrate. The
actions comprise:
Action 201
The EVSE 102 transmits an RF signal comprising information for use
by the wireless communication device 116 when the wireless
communication device 116 accesses at least one service that is
associated with the geographic location of the EVSE.
In various embodiments, the at least one service may be any of a
payment service, a local information service and a geographical
tracking or routing service.
As mentioned, the RF signal transmitted by the EVSE may be
considered as a beacon 109 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The
transmission of the RF signal may in various embodiments comprise
transmission of any of a Bluetooth signal (e.g. a Bluetooth Low
Energy, LE, signal) and a near field communication, NFC,
signal.
In some embodiments, the information for use by the wireless
communication device 116 may comprise the geographic location of
the EVSE 102.
Action 203
The EVSE 102 communicates with the wireless communication device
116 whereby the accessing of the at least one service by the
wireless communication device is facilitated.
In some embodiments, the communication with the wireless
communication device 116 may comprise communication directly with
the wireless communication device 116. In some embodiments, the
communication with the wireless communication device 116 may
comprise communication via an internet 110 communication path.
In FIG. 3, a method performed by the wireless communication device
116 will be described in some exemplifying details. The method
comprises a number of actions, as the boxes in the flowchart in
FIG. 3 illustrate. The actions comprise:
Action 301
The wireless communication device 116 receives, from the EVSE 102
an RF signal that comprises information for use by the wireless
communication device 116 when accessing at least one service that
is associated with the geographic location of the EVSE 102.
For example, the reception of the RF signal may in various
embodiments comprise reception of any of a Bluetooth signal (e.g. a
Bluetooth Low Energy, LE, signal) and a near field communication,
NFC, signal.
Action 303
The wireless communication device 116 analyses the information
received from the EVSE 102, whereby at least an identity of the
EVSE 102 is obtained.
Action 305
The wireless communication device 116 obtains a geographic location
associated with the EVSE 102. For example, the geographic location
associated with the EVSE 102 may be obtained from the information
received from the EVSE 102.
In some embodiments, the obtaining of the geographic location
associated with the EVSE 102 may involve analyzing signal strength
of the received RF signal. In such embodiments the geographic
location associated with the EVSE 102 may be obtained from the
analysis of the signal strength. As will be exemplified below, the
geographic location associated with the EVSE 102 may be a distance
between the wireless communication device 116 and the EVSE 102.
Action 307
The wireless communication device 116 accesses the at least one
service that is associated with the geographic location associated
with the EVSE 102.
For example, the accessing of the at least one service may comprise
communicating with the EVSE 102.
In some embodiments, the geographic location associated with the
EVSE 102 may be a specific geographic zone, among a plurality of
geographic zones 121,122,123, in which the wireless communication
device 116 is located.
In such embodiments, given the specific geographic zone 121,122,123
in which the wireless communication device 116 is located, the
accessing of the at least one service may comprise: if the wireless
communication device 116 is located in a first geographic zone 121,
accessing a payment service, if the wireless communication device
116 is located in a second geographic zone 122, accessing a local
information service, and if the wireless communication device 116
is located in a third geographic zone 123, accessing a geographical
tracking or routing service.
As exemplified by the configuration of the zones 121,122,123 in
relation to a spatial/geographical xy-coordinate system in FIG. 1,
the first, second and third geographical zones may be associated
with a respective first, second and third spatial distance from the
EVSE 102, where the first distance is smaller than the second
distance and the second distance is smaller than the third
distance.
Moreover, although not illustrated in FIG. 1, zones, similar to the
zones 121, 122, 123, may be associated with other EVSEs such as the
EVSE 152. The wireless communication device 116 may in such a
scenario make use of information in RF signals transmitted by a
plurality of EVSEs and thereby being enabled to obtain an increased
accuracy in geographical location.
Continuing now with reference to FIG. 1 as well as to FIGS. 2 and
3, various exemplifying embodiments will be described in some more
detail.
For example, at a very short range, the services that a user of the
wireless communication device 116 may wish to use may, e.g., be a
payment service, and at distances further away, local information
services and geographical routing and tracking services may be
accessed. Processor capacity and radio transmitting capacity that
commonly are preinstalled in EVSE 102 may be used, and also the
grid nature of plural EVSEs typically installed in facilities like
parking garages.
For example, the RF signal transmitted by the EVSE may contain at
least a unique digital signature. This unique signature may be
associated with the exact location of the EVSE 102. The wireless
communication device may communicate with an internet 110 service
and identify this exact location through the unique signature.
However, as mentioned, the information transmitted by the EVSE 102
may also contain such exact location information.
In examples where the signal strength of the RF signal transmitted
by the EVSE 102 received by the wireless communication device 116
and/or in examples where several EVSEs, e.g. also EVSE 152,
transmit a respective RF signal the relative strength of these
plural RF signals that are received by the wireless communication
device 116, may be used to determine the wireless communication
device 116 distance and/or position relative to the EVSE 102 or
relative to several EVSEs in a grid. The relation between RF signal
strength(s) at the wireless communication device from one or more
EVSE and the distance to the EVSE(s) may be predefined, and then
provided to the wireless communication device through the internet
connection 118. Because of different reflection of the radio
signal, this relation may be different depending on from which
EVSE(s) the wireless communication device 116 receives RF
signal(s). Table 1 below shows an example of a rough relation
between the range of received signal strength (in dBm) at a
wireless communication device 116 and the distance range to the
EVSE 102 emitting an RF signal with a signal strength of 20 dBm,
which is the typical power level of a class 3 Bluetooth device.
Table 1 also exemplifies a mapping of the distance value with the
three zones 121,122,123 in FIG. 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Zone Signal strength Distance 1 20-0 dBm
0-15 m 2 0--8 dBm 15-50 m 3 -8-10 dBm 50-100 m
The distance values may be provided to the wireless communication
device 116 by including radio signal strength(s) mapped with unique
identification(s) of the transmitting EVSE(s).
As exemplified in FIG. 1 and mentioned above, different services
may be provided based on the wireless communication device 116
distance and/or position relative to the EVSE 102 or relative to a
plurality of EVSE devices, e.g. also EVSE 152. Here, three
different services are offered to the user depending on in which of
the three zones, zone 1 121, zone 2 122 or zone 3 123 according to
table 1, the wireless communication device 116 is located. As FIG.
1 illustrated, an inner zone of FIG. 1 is referred to as zone 1, a
middle zone is referred to as zone 2, and an outer zone is referred
to as zone 3.
When the wireless communication device 116 is located within zone
1, a payment service may be offered to the user of the portable
device. This may typically be a payment service for using the EVSE
power supply system 106 for charging the user's electric vehicle
114. Details of the charging cost etc. may be presented on a
display of the wireless communication device and the procedure of
paying may follow any appropriate internet based payment procedure.
Such a payment service could also include parking fees applicable
at a parking place 134 and payment of goods from kiosk machines 132
located within zone 1.
When the wireless communication device 116 is located within zone
2, local relevant information and services 136 may be provided.
Examples of such information and services may include information
from local stores in the area where the zone is located,
advertising, general information of the area etc.
In zone 3, far distance services like tracking and routing may be
offered to the user of the wireless communication device 116. Then
cross bearing of a plurality signals from several EVSEs could be
utilized, e.g. RF signals from both EVSE 102 and EVSE 152 (although
a typical grid of EVSEs comprises more than two EVSEs). Once a
geographical location of the wireless communication device 116 is
found, a route to the nearest parking slot with an EVSE could be
created. Such a parking slot may be located in any of the zones
1212,122,123 as well as in a zone associated with any other EVSE,
such as a zone (not shown in FIG. 1) associated with EVSE 152. Such
tracking and routing may be realized by including, in the
transmission of the RF signal by the EVSE 102 (i.e. the beacon
109), an indication of a free parking slot together with the unique
identification of the EVSE as mentioned above. The EVSE of the
strongest signal strength and at the same time indicating a free
parking slot would then be selected by the user. At this time, the
location of the wireless communication device 116 and the nearest
free parking slot would be known to the user of the vehicle 114. By
using a map of the local area (e.g. a parking facility) downloaded
via the internet 110 to the wireless communication device 116, a
guiding route from the location of the portable device to the
nearest parking slot equipped with an EVSE could be provided to the
wireless communication device 116.
Turning now to FIG. 4, an EVSE 400 will be described in some more
detail. For example, the EVSE 400 may be any of the EVSEs 102, 152
discussed above in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3. The EVSE 400
comprises RF control circuitry 406, a processor 402 and a memory
404. The memory 404 contains instructions executable by the
processor 402 whereby the EVSE 400 is operative to: transmit a
radio frequency, RF, signal comprising information for use by a
wireless communication device 115,116,500 when accessing at least
one service that is associated with the geographic location of the
EVSE, and communicate with the wireless communication device
whereby the accessing of the at least one service by the wireless
communication device is facilitated.
The instructions that are executable by the processor 402 may be
software in the form of a computer program 441. The computer
program 441 may be contained in or by a carrier 442, which may
provide the computer program 441 to the memory 404 and processor
402. The carrier 442 may be in any suitable form including an
electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer
readable storage medium.
In some embodiments, the EVSE 400 is operative such that the
information for use by the wireless communication device comprises
the geographic location of the EVSE.
In some embodiments, the EVSE 400 is operative such that the
communication with the wireless communication device comprises
communication directly with the wireless communication device.
In some embodiments, the EVSE 400 is operative such that the
communication with the wireless communication device comprises
communication via an internet communication path.
In some embodiments, the EVSE 400 is operative such that the at
least one service is any of a payment service, a local information
service, a geographical tracking or routing service.
In some embodiments, the EVSE 400 is operative such that the
transmission of the RF signal comprises transmission of any of a
Bluetooth signal, a near field communication, NFC, signal.
Turning now to FIG. 5, a wireless communication device 500 will be
described in some more detail. For example, the wireless
communication device 500 may be any of the wireless communication
devices 115,116 discussed above in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3.
The wireless communication device 500 comprises RF control
circuitry 506, a processor 502 and a memory 504. The memory 504
contains instructions executable by the processor 502 whereby the
wireless communication device 500 is operative to: receive, from an
electric vehicle supply equipment 102, 400, EVSE, a radio
frequency, RF, signal comprising information for use by the
wireless communication device when accessing at least one service
that is associated with the geographic location of the EVSE,
analyze the information received from the EVSE, whereby at least an
identity of the EVSE is obtained, obtain a geographic location
associated with the EVSE, and access the at least one service that
is associated with the geographic location associated with the
EVSE.
The instructions that are executable by the processor 502 may be
software in the form of a computer program 541. The computer
program 541 may be contained in or by a carrier 542, which may
provide the computer program 541 to the memory 504 and processor
502. The carrier 542 may be in any suitable form including an
electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer
readable storage medium.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative such that the geographic location associated with the
EVSE is obtained from the received information.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative to: analyze signal strength of the received RF signal,
and wherein the geographic location associated with the EVSE is
obtained from the analysis of the signal strength.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative such that the geographic location associated with the
EVSE is a specific geographic zone, among a plurality of geographic
zones, in which the wireless communication device is located.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative such that the accessing of the at least one service
comprises: if the wireless communication device is located in a
first geographic zone, accessing a payment service, if the wireless
communication device is located in a second geographic zone,
accessing a local information service, and if the wireless
communication device is located in a third geographic zone,
accessing a geographical tracking or routing service.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative such that the first, second and third geographical zones
are associated with a respective first, second and third spatial
distance from the EVSE, where the first distance is smaller than
the second distance and the second distance is smaller than the
third distance.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative such that the accessing of the at least one service
comprises communicating with the EVSE.
In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 500 is
operative such that the reception of the RF signal comprises
reception of any of a Bluetooth signal, a near field communication,
NFC, signal.
As used herein, the expression "configured to" may mean that a
processing circuit is configured to, or adapted to, by means of
software configuration and/or hardware configuration, perform one
or more of the actions described herein.
As used herein, the term "memory" may refer to a hard disk, a
magnetic storage medium, a portable computer diskette or disc,
flash memory, random access memory, RAM, or the like. Furthermore,
the term "memory" may refer to an internal register memory of a
processor or the like.
As used herein, the term "computer readable medium" may be a
Universal Serial Bus, USB, memory, a DVD-disc, a Blu-ray disc, a
software module that is received as a stream of data, a Flash
memory, a hard drive, a memory card, such as a MemoryStick, a
Multimedia Card, MMC, etc.
As used herein, the term "computer readable code units" may be text
of a computer program, parts of or an entire binary file
representing a computer program in a compiled format or anything
there between.
As used herein, the terms "number", "value" may be any kind of
digit, such as binary, real, imaginary or rational number or the
like. Moreover, "number", "value" may be one or more characters,
such as a letter or a string of letters. "number", "value" may also
be represented by a bit string.
As used herein, the expression "in some embodiments" has been used
to indicate that the features of the embodiment described may be
combined with any other embodiment disclosed herein.
Even though embodiments of the various aspects have been described,
many different alterations, modifications and the like thereof will
become apparent for those skilled in the art. The described
embodiments are therefore not intended to limit the scope of the
present disclosure.
* * * * *